How did the Civil War change the roles of southern women?
In both the North and the South, women collected in aid societies, circulated petitions, and, at home, took over the tough duties of running the household rather than encounter low-paying, poor factory work or even prostitution; poorer women followed their husbands and their fathers to camp. Slave women also found protection in camps. The women were vulnerable to fear of war. They had to protect themselves and their families from rape, kill abduction from confederate raiders. Escaping from the camp was the most promising option.
American Civil War dynamically changed the roles of women played in American society, if only for a short time. Gender roles were amended as even white, middle-class women stepped out, or were forced out, of their traditional private sphere. They started performing some duties like running the household a duty that was previously performed by their husbands. On the battlefront, they bandaged wounds or fought side by side with men. Somewhere in between, one particular woman enchanted men with her femininity, bewitchingly betrayed them, and consoled herself that “All was fair in love and war.